A Tip to maximise your Mid-Week Truth Turn Up …
Your Mid-Week Truth Turn Up is a 'meaty' devotional that can re-centre your heart on Jesus as you go along in your week. The devotional is slightly lengthier than a daily devotional and that is because I post them only once a week and they are meant to be your repeat meditation for the next 7 days till you receive the next Truth Turn Up. My tip is therefore that as your week goes on, you visit and re-visit your Mid-Week Truth Turn up and meditate on the Bible Meditation passage, my write up as well as the Further Study at the bottom of the devotional. Take the whole week to meditate on it and get it into your spirit. Do not try to compress the whole devotional into one reading. Enjoy (* wink *) Coach Toyin
The Follower’s Battle – a guest devotional by Funmi Amosun (a.k.a. my Mum)
OUR FEATURE VERSE: John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
When I read the Narrow Gateway’s “Turn yourself down, part two”, I quickly saw the link to something God has been speaking to me about. The Lord has been chastising me for being a whiner! During my devotion some days ago, I felt God say to my heart, “You are my missile against the kingdom of darkness!” I thought to myself, “Me? Missile? What a joke! Lord, I don’t do the things You want me to do. Many times I do not complete the errands You expect me to run. How can I be a missile?” Why do I feel like this? Because instead of going ahead and boldly doing the things God instructs me to do, I find myself coming up with one reason or the other why I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. The end result? The work of God is left undone and I am left feeling so guilty. What a waste, right? Especially considering that, from what we read in our feature Bible passage today, Jesus said that those who believe in Him will do the works that He did, and even greater ones! Which means that as a follower of Christ, I am called to carry out glorious works in the world; to do wonders in a world in dire need of solutions.
So seeing as God has made this power available to us, where does this sense of incapability and discouragement come from? This is where the Lord reminded me, that I am in a battle. As followers of Christ, we are in a battle! Because the devil will do anything to make sure that we are reduced to a bundle of inaction and defeat, and we are so confounded and discouraged that we cannot go forth and work the works that God has prepared for us. This is the devil’s weapon against us. So when I say, “I can’t do what God tells me to do”, or “I am not good enough,” or “I am not ready,” I am handing the trophy to the devil. Because I am effectively saying that my perception of my capabilities and opportunities, is more important than the people who God wants me to go out there and reach. When I refuse to “turn myself down” and I rather choose to turn God down, it means not only that I am focused on myself and my circumstances, but it also means that I am giving in to the devil’s schemes and whims to keep me from setting my eyes on GOD, the One who gave me the assignment in the first place.
Now as I meditated on this, it felt like a light came on and began shining in my spirit, and I was encouraged. Which leads me to urge you that when you feel discouraged, feast on TRUTH, feast on the Word of God, and on prayer. Remind yourself of Who you serve and what He says about you. More importantly, remind yourself that it is not by might or by power but by the Spirit of the Lord that you arise and do the things that God has called you to do as a follower of Christ. To this end, I want to encourage you to meditate on Ephesians 6:12-18. This is where Paul talks about the fact that we have an enemy, the devil, who is seeking to devour us and to botch up God’s work here on earth. But as followers of Christ, we have an armour, weapons that God has given us to withstand the wiles of the enemy. We need to know our weapons. We need to use our weapons as we go about God’s business, here on earth.
Friends, embrace the fact that as a follower of Christ, you are His missile, and part of His weaponry on the earth, to work works that are even greater than those that Christ did. And indeed, in your own strength you cannot do this. You cannot be a missile all by yourself! You need to hook arms with the one who created and operates the missile. You need to hook arms with the Lord and surrender or “turn yourself down” in favour of His truth. Or else, you will fall prey to the enemy’s lies about you, and you will be reduced to inaction and ineffectiveness. Arise, seize hold of the weapons of your warfare and forge ahead into doing greater things for the Lord as a follower of Christ.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus! Today, You hit the nail on the head! I so often feel so guilty and condemned, so discouraged for being so incapable of doing the things that I know You have called me to do. Gosh, even to manage just to follow You is a tall order, talk less of doing Your bidding here on earth. I thank You for reminding me that this is the devil’s plot to keep me ineffective and inactive as Your weapon of glory. Please help me to turn to You always and to immerse myself in Your Truth, every time when the devil tries to convince me that I am no good. Today, I declare, understand and believe that I am the righteousness of God through Christ, and I can do all things through Christ who is my strength! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
A last word from Toyin:
Thanks so much Funmi Amosun (a.k.a Mummy…LOL!) for sharing this Word with us. I am personally blessed by it because I also often experience the discouragement from the enemy when I “behold” the call of God and I “behold” all my flaws.
Friends, let’s make it a habit that anytime we are plagued with doubt and fear about the path of following Christ, and about our “suitability” for the “call of God” on our lives, we draw on the TRUTH, and we believe, understand and appropriate it to our situation. Say after me. I am the righteousness of God, through Christ. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. In Him I live, in Him I move, in Him I have my being! It is not in the words that the power lies. It is in your understanding of the words, as well as your belief in them and in the God that makes them true.
(Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!)
Critically I end this by saying, I am Toyin Oladiran, totally convicted by this devotional and very much still under construction, in the hands of the Father.
WRITTEN BY FUNMI AMOSUN, FOR THE NARROW GATEWAY (www.thenarrowgateway.com)
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